6. Nylah
Nylah
It was Friday, the day of my supposed-to-be date with Rosama, and I was at work, working my ass off. The store was packed, with new and old customers coming to shop to catch up.
Denise and I were both running to the back, replenishing the stock when needed and fulfilling some pre-orders she had going on. I liked that the day was busy. It kept my mind off my personal life and how niggas swore they could play in my face.
When we finally closed for lunch, I slouched down on the couch, kicking my shoes off.
“Girllll….” I said, rubbing my forehead. “I am tired as hell.”
Denise nodded as she took a seat in the other chair. “Me too. I just ordered us some lunch.”
We went on talking about all the people in the store when my phone went off with a message from Rosama. I sucked my teeth and locked my phone back.
“Who the hell got you like that?”
“That nigga that ran into the back of me, Rosama. Raven didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head, and I sat up.
“Me and him chopped it up a bit, then he asked me on a date. Later that day, Raven and I slid to Brooklyn for dinner. I saw him comin’ outta a spot with some bitch on his arm.”
“You think he was tryna play with you?”
“Hell yeah,” I said quickly. “And I am not the one to be played with.”
Denise nodded. “Girl, I already know how you move. I am surprised you haven’t blocked him.”
I smirked. “Nah, I can tell most bitches don’t do him the way I'm finna do him. I want a receipt.”
She laughed. “You are somethin’ else, but I love to watch the shit.”
After we got our food and ate, we got straight back to work. I had some measurements to take and had to talk to some clients about some custom orders that lasted all the way to closing. Once we turned and locked up, we both turned around and looked at the mess the store was in.
“Cleanin’ can wait until tomorrow, right?” Denise asked.
I laughed. “You’re the boss, let me go get my shit.”
We walked out of the store at the same time and hugged.
“I will talk to you later. Let me know how things go with you and that man.”
I laughed as I walked to my car. “I got you.”
On my way home, I grabbed myself some oxtails, coconut rice, and cabbage, and went home ready to smash.
As soon as I walked through the door, I dropped my food on the counter and went straight into the bathroom to get changed.
After that, I grabbed my food and sat on my couch and unboxed in the shit, when I got a message from Rosama.
Rosama: Send me ya addy.
I stared at it for a second, then put the phone down. I was planning to leave him on read when I had anotha idea.
I sent him my address and continued to eat my food while looking for a movie when he sent me anotha message.
Rosana: Be there in twenty.
I hearted it and kept eating.
About thirty minutes later, I heard a knock at my door. I smiled to myself as I took my time getting up off the couch with my phone in my hand, checked my hair in the mirror, then opened the door.
Rosama was smiling at first, his diamond grill dancing in the night light, until he looked me up and down and it started to fade away.
“Wussup?” I said softly.
“Wussup with you?” he asked. “You not ready for our date.”
“I'm not, ‘cause I'm not some type of goofy bitch.
He looked at me, confused.
“I don’t know what you are talkin’ bout, ma. I just met you. I haven’t come at you in such a way.”
I nodded. “You are just too smooth for your own good.” I quickly unlocked my phone, pulled up the picture I took, and turned the phone toward him.
Rosama cuffed his mouth. I don’t know if he was actually in shock or just playing.
“I know we just met,” I said with a whole attitude. “But I'm not finna be one of your bitches in rotation.”
Rosama smirked slightly. “Come on, ma, I had that date set up before I even met you.”
I tilted my head. “So when you met me, you decided to add me to your roster? What type of bitch do you think I am?”
He looked at me like I had just said something that didn’t register all the way, like his brain was still trying to catch up to the fact that I wasn’t budging.
“What type of bitch you think I am?” I repeated, slower this time, letting it sit.
Rosama let out a quiet breath through his nose, his tongue sliding over his teeth like he was trying to keep that same smooth composure he had when we met. He didn’t step back or get loud. He just…stood there, eyes locked on me, studying.
“I don’t think you no type of bitch,” he said finally, voice low and even. “That’s the whole reason why I wanted you.”
I gave a small, unimpressed nod. “It sounds good, but that shit don’t match what the fuck I saw.”
He shifted his weight slightly, one hand brushing down the front of his shirt like he was buying himself a second to think. “You keep sayin’ that like you caught me doin’ somethin’ crazy, ma.”
“I did,” I said, cutting in quick. “You just don’t think it’s crazy.”
That made him pause for a second.
Just a second.
But I peeped that shit.
He tilted his head a lil’, eyes narrowing just enough to show he was starting to take me serious. “So you mad ‘cause I was out?”
“I'm not mad,” I corrected, my tone flattening. “Don’t confuse me checkin’ you with me bein’ in my feelings. That’s two different things.”
He watched me closely after that, like he was trying to figure out where the emotions were at, trying to see if I was bluffing or if I really meant everything I said.
“I asked you on a date,” he said, a lil’ slower. “That don’t mean I don’t have a life outside of that.”
“And I got standards,” I replied right over him. “That don’t change ‘cause you want to talk like you have some game and have a rack of bitches.”
A faint smirk tugged at his mouth, but it wasn’t as confident as before. “So that’s what this is? You think I'm all talk?”
“I don’t just think,” I said. “I observe.”
That wiped the smirk clean off his face.
For a moment, neither one of us said anything. He acted like he couldn’t just take his L and go.
“You seen me out with somebody,” he said again like I wasn’t there. “But you don’t even know the situation.”
“And I don’t need or want to,” I shot back. “That’s the point you keep missin’.”
He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. “Nah, you need to hear it. Stop bein’ difficult.”
“I don’t need to hear a damn thing,” I said again. “You asked me out, then turned around and was out with somebody else. For all I know, it could have been your girl. I don’t care what label you put on it. That’s not how you come at me.”
His jaw tightened just a lil’, but he nodded like he was taking it in instead of fighting it.
“Iight,” he said. “So if I would’ve told you that I had somethin’ lined up already, that would have made it better?”
“No,” I answered instantly. “It would have let me know not to take you seriously from the jump.”
That made him go quiet again, but this time, he looked like he was thinking of something.
He ran his hand ova his chin, eyes still on me, but deeper now. Less cocky, more locked in.
“You got it set in your head already,” he said.
“I got it set off what you showed me,” I corrected.
He exhaled again, longer this time, then stepped a lil’ closer, not enough to crowd me, but enough to test the space between us.
“And what if I tell you I'm still tryin’ to take you out?” he asked.
I didn’t move, didn’t lean back, and just looked at him.
“That would be your problem,” I said.
His brow pulled together slightly. “How is that my problem?”
“’Cause you tryna see me like I'm another option,” I responded. “And I'm far from that.”
He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then stopped himself, pressing his lips together instead. I had to hold back my smile, 'cause that right there told me he was now trying to choose his words instead of letting anything fly out of his mouth.
“I don’t move like that,” he said after a few seconds.
I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “You literally do. I saw it!”
“That's your perspective, ma,” he countered.
“And that’s your reality,” I shot back.
Anotha pause.
This one stretched a lil’ longer than before.
Rosama looked at me like he wasn’t used to nobody meeting him at every word. Finally, he let out a low breath, shaking his head a lil’.
“I can’t believe my night is goin’ like this,” he said low. “You really standin’ on this?”
“I will always stand on this,” I responded.
That shit made his mouth twitch like he almost wanted to smile but didn’t want to fully let it out.
He leaned slightly against the door frame again, like he still wasn’t ready to leave, like something in him wanted to keep pushing the moment even though he already knew it was headed.
“I came ova here to take you out,” he said low.
“And I'm standin’ here tellin’ you that you should watch what you are doin’ when you ask people out.”
He looked at me for a second longer, his eyes dragged ova me slowly. Like he was reading me different than before. He pulled up thinking it was a regular vibe. Now he had to recalibrate if he was gonna get what he wanted.
“You don’t even give a nigga space to explain,” he said.
I laughed under my breath, but it wasn’t playful. “Explain what? What I already seen? Rosama, I don’t know how long we been standin’ here, but I can tell you I am getting tired of havin’ my door open.”
He was starting to look irritated but was tryna keep his cool. “You seen a moment, ma. That’s it.”
“A moment?” I repeated, tilting my head. “You talkin’ like I imagined it.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said again, slower now, like he was trying to guide me into seeing it his way.
I stepped forward just a lil’, enough so he could see I wasn’t backing up from nothing he said.
“Let me make somethin’ VERY clear to you,” I said, voice steady. “I don’t care what it was like. I care what it looked like. And what it looked like was you comfortable enough to be out on a date with anotha woman after already inviting me into your space.”
His eyes stayed on mine, but I could tell that one hit different.
Not loud.
Just accurate.
He exhaled slow, running his hand down his jaw again. “So you just cuttin’ me off like that?”
“I'm not cuttin’ you off,” I corrected. “You neva got in.”
This made his eyebrow shift slightly.
He shook his head once, low, like he was amused now despite himself. “You're fucked up for that one. You know I would love the chance to be in you.”
“I'm not fucked up for anythin’, Papa, I'm just not a slow bitch.”
That got a real reaction outta him. A short laugh slipped out before he could stop it, and he looked at me like I had just impressed and irritated him at the same time.
“You got attitudes for days, ma.”
“And you got options,” I replied. “We both know what that means.”
That smile faded away a lil’ after that, not completely gone, but he was back in serious mode again.
“Iight,” he said, shifting his weight off the frame. “Let me ask you somethin then.”
I didn’t answer, just waited.
He took that as his green light.
“If I wasn’t even on no funny timin’ like you think I was, you think you still would’ve been trippin’ like this?
“I don’t know, I respond to what I see.”
He nodded like he was accepting that answer even if he didn’t like it.
“So you don’t believe in givin’ a nigga room to show you somethin’ different?” he asked.
“I do,” I said. “Just not after I already seen how you move.”
That shut him up for a second. He looked at me longer now, like the smoothness in him wasn’t enough to just talk me out of what I had my mind set on.
“You are not regular,” he finally said.
“I know,” I responded without hesitation.
That made his lips curl slightly, but he didn’t press it.
Instead, he took a few steps closer to me and licked his lips. The smell of his cologne filled my nose.
“I can't even lie to you,” he said. “You got me standin' here thinkin’ and shit. I might have to start thinkin’ different.”
“Thinkin’ different now don’t change what already happened,” I said.
“I hear you,” he replied, softer now. “But I'm tellin’ you I wasn’t even tryin’ to do what you think I was.”
I let out a slow breath, looking at him like I was weighing him all ova again.
“Rosama, I can’t stress this enough. I don’t care what you was tryin’ to do. That don’t mean nothin’ to me.”
That made him pause again.
But I kept going.
“I care what a nigga does who is tryin’ to talk to me. I care how they carry themselves and the company they keep because that is a reflection of them, and maybe you are not used to a bitch who cares. That has nothin’ to do with me”
He nodded with no interruption and just listened.
By the way he looked at me, I could tell that he wasn’t used to no shit like that.
“Iight,” he said quietly. “So, what now?”
I leaned against my doorframe and crossed my arms.
“Now you can go home or call somebody else on your roster, and I’ma go back to eatin’ my food.”
“And that’s it?” he asked.
I nodded. “That’s it for you,” I corrected.
He held that look for a second, like he was trying to see if there was any wiggle room around what I said.
It wasn’t.
Eventually, he nodded once.
“Iight, ma. I’ma let you have this.”
He stepped back, giving me full space now, but before turning away, he looked me up and down one last time.
“What if I tell you I’ma still come around?”
I smirked. “Come around for what?”
“Because I want you and still want to take you out.”
I smirked slightly but didn’t soften. “You can try.”
That made him chuckle under his breath.
Rosama then turned and walked down the steps. As he opened his car door, he looked back at me with a smile. “I’ma be back around tho’.”
I nodded at him, already knowing. He then hopped in his car and pulled off.
I closed my door behind me, locked it, then stood there for a second longer than I needed to.
As I walked back to my couch, I couldn’t stop smiling a lil’ to myself, like I was annoyed that I was even smiling in the first place.
I dropped back down, picking my food up again, acting like I was locked in on eating when I really wasn’t even focused on the plate anymore.
My mind kept going back to Rosama and what just happened. The way he stood there, smooth even when I was checking him. The way he tried to talk his way through it, like he wasn’t used to a door not opening back up for him just ‘cause he was there.
And the way he still didn’t want to walk away without getting what he wanted.
I clicked my tongue, shaking my head a lil’.
“I got that nigga,” I muttered to myself.
Rosama thought he was gonna have his cake and eat it too, and I wasn’t going for that.
I wasn’t the bitches that he was used to that he could easily charm, and from how he walked off my steps with his tail tucked between his legs, I knew he felt that shit.
Rosama was a dog-ass nigga who neva been told no before. I knew he was gonna be around like a stray dog does before he even said it, and was probably gonna try to step hard or prove a point that he was not the type of nigga that I was making him out to be.
I started laughing to myself so hard that I had to put my food down. It’s been a long-ass time since I had to tame a dog-ass nigga, but by the way Rosama moved, I knew that shit was about to be fun.